Month: June 2009

Older readers may remember that faintly hilarious photo-spread of our lovely cottage, which appeared in Period Living magazine a few years back. (“Will I be cooking lunch, or will I be cooking dinner?“) Well, now it’s the PDMG’s turn to bask in the limelight, courtesy of a sumptuous six-page feature (“Peak of perfection“) in the current edition of The English Garden magazine (available in your local newsagents for the next two or three weeks, hurry while stocks last).

This time round, the prose is a good deal less purple, and a good deal more factually accurate… until you get to “Mike And Kevin’s Tips For Tiny Gardens” at the end of the piece, that is. Pruning is crucial! Mulch the beds! Keep the edges immaculate! Oh, it’s pure Viz comic.

As for the photos – which were taken over two seasons, mostly at the crack of dawn – they couldn’t show our humble plot in a more flattering light. It doesn’t always look that good – but it’s nice to know that very occasionally, it does.

The photo set was completed by a portrait of the happy couple themselves, enjoying a relaxing (and empty) cup of tea in the spring sunshine. (We got us best Wedgewood Queensware out, as the occasion demanded.) It’s a pity that I’m squinting in the sunshine, but will you just LOOK at that healthy glow – achieved by our friend Shirl, who did a cracking job with the kitchen foil, just off camera. (K leaves NOTHING to chance.)

Just one minor quibble: did the magazine have to use the word “tiny” quite so often? We like to think we’re “deceptively sizeable”.

Stalkers please note: the PDMG will be open as part of our village’s Gardens Open Day on Sunday June 21st. And you’ll be most welcome.